1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combined hinge and electrical connector assembly for a portable computer, more particularly to a combined hinge and electrical connector assembly with a hinge which has a hollow pivot shaft and a sleeve portion that are sleeved rotatably on each other and that cooperatively define a space for the passage of conducting wires from an electrical connector on a lower housing to an upper housing of the portable computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The improvement of this invention is directed to a a conventional portable computer which includes an upper housing that receives a monitor thereon, and a lower housing that receives a keyboard and a computer processing unit thereon. The upper housing is pivoted to the lower housing by means of a hinge assembly so as to allow the monitor to be opened to a usable position. The electrical connection between the monitor and the computer processing unit is established by means of two electrical connectors which are positioned respectively within the upper and lower housings and which are connected electrically to each other by means of several conducting wires that extend from the lower housing to the upper housing.
Generally, in the conventional hinge assembly, the conducting wires have to extend through gaps formed in the upper and lower housings so as to enter the same to interconnect electrically the electrical connectors within the upper and lower housings, thereby connecting electrically the computer processing unit to the monitor. However, it is quite inconvenient for a manufacturer to arrange the conducting wires from the lower housing to the upper housing in the above-described manner to interconnect electrically the electrical connectors when manufacturing the portable computer. Of course, it still be quite difficult for a manufacturer to remove the upper housing from the lower housing in order to replace an old monitor with a new one. In addition, when the electrical connectors are out of order during use, it is also difficult to remove the electrical connectors from the upper and lower housings so as to replace the broken electrical connectors with new ones.